subject to continual interruptions. When we first chose the spot, it seemed remote from the chief part of the population, but the establishment of the Pensioners' villages has made it the centre of a large and increasing neighbourhood. Following at our humble distance the example of the cathedrals in old time, we have established Chapelries in the neighbouring hamlets, which are under the charge of the ordained members of our collegiate body. "The following are the distances from the College to its affiliated Chapels and districts, seven in number:"The College to St. Thomas Tamaki. mile N.E. . . Remeura 4 miles W. ... 5 miles S.W. وو Okahu to All Saints' (native chapel) Owairoa . . 5 miles E. New Village of Pensioners } 3 miles S. (church not built) "Native School.-Beyond the chapel and burial-ground, and at the corner where the Auckland road branches off to the Isthmus on the south, and to the Tamaki Ferry on the north, a handsome wooden building contains the masters and scholars of the Native School, which generally numbers from twenty to twenty-five, but it could be extended indefinitely, if our arrangements were sufficiently complete. That there is no difficulty in procuring a supply of promising scholars, is proved by the fact, that I am now writing with my cabin full of native boys busy learning the Collect for the day, (St. John Baptist.) I have eleven in all on board; three are old scholars, returning from their holidays with their friends in the south; and eight are new scholars, selected from Croixille's Harbour, Otaki, Waikanae, and the Chatham Islands. One old father and mother at Otaki are a pattern for all parents. Three years ago I selected their son out of a class of seventy on the Manawatu river; and took him with me to embark at Port Nicholson, his aged parents walking with me to see him on board, and resigning him with such a blessing as unbaptized believers can bestow. A year ago the father sent me a letter, of which the following is a literal translation:— "O Bishop, with you be the thought, to send your child Simeon back to us, that we may see our life; and then he shall return to you, to work at your joint work. Your dear friend,-MATAKU.' "This short letter disproves many assertions that have been made of the impossibility of maintaining native schools: -1, that the parents would not part with their children; 2, that the boys would always run away, and never come back; 3, that the parents would not allow the boys to work, or learn any industrious habits. "In forming an opinion of the possibility of civilizing the whole rising generation of New Zealanders, I have never perceived any practical impediment, except the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of English instructors who would devote themselves with all their hearts to the work, and do for the native children what every Christian parent wishes to do for his own. But such a system must not only provide the means of education, but also instruction in the most minute details of daily life, and in every useful and industrious habit. We are apt to forget the laborious processes by which we acquired in early life the routine duties of cleanliness, order, method, and punctuality; and we often expect to find ready made in a native people, the qualities which we ourselves have learned with difficulty, and which our own countrymen rapidly lose in the unsettled and irresponsible slovenliness of Colonial life. We want a large supply of Oberlins and Felix Neffs, who, having no sense of their own dignity, will think nothing below it; and who will go into the lowest and darkest corner of the native character, to see where the difficulty lies which keeps them back from being assimilated to ourselves. They have received the Gospel freely, and with an unquestioning faith: but the unfavourable tendency of native habits is every day dragging back many into the state of sin from which they seem to have escaped. There is scarcely any thing so small as not to affect the permanence of Christianity in this country. We require men who will number every hair of a native's head, as part of the work of Him Who made and redeemed the world." 0 LOOKING TO JESUS.-" Those that have searched into the monuments of Jerusalem, write, that our Lord was crucified with His face to the west; which, however spitefully meant of the Jews (as not allowing Him worthy to look on the holy city and temple), yet was not without a mystery. His eyes looked to the Gentiles, &c., saith the Psalmist. As Christ, therefore, on His cross, looked towards us, sinners of the Gentiles, so let us look up to Him." (Gal. ii. 20.) -Bishop Hall. Notices of Books. The Christian Life. By the Rev. R. MONTGOMERY. Third WE are very glad to find that our original estimate, made in all humility, of the value of this addition to our Christian literature, was not made without good grounds. The work before us has already reached a third edition—a fact, which speaks both favourably for the buyers and the bought. We are glad to find that the true tone of Christian love and Church teaching which pervades it has been appreciated by the public; and we do most earnestly recommend all who have it not as yet, to make amends forthwith, for their delay. We shall give a few extracts from one of the poems entitled "Baptism," which, we think, will be acceptable to all our readers: "THOU little trembler, robed in white, The birth-dawn of the spirit's life With holy fulness be it rife, While hearts for thee are striving With God in prayer; that soon thy shielded charms May rest secure in Christ's baptismal arms. "Thou innocent! with man compared, Thee hath eternal Truth declared A child of wrath and sin; But now, adopted, seal'd and signed By Him who hath redeemed mankind, For thee will now begin That second birth renewing grace imparts Through this deep Sacrament to infant hearts "All that a birth of flesh can give What is it, but a doom to live, A destiny of guilt and death, A curse inhaled at ev'ry breath Life breathes from sin below? By grace uncharm'd destruction seems to lower On the sad babe, 'ere time can count its hour. "But at yon font where Jesus stands With greeting heart and gracious hands, Ready to clasp the child; Pale infant! there a breath from heaven Shall to thy dawning soul be given Through Him the Saviour mild,— Who, while He thunders from his regal Throne Loves the sweet age on earth He call'd His own "The Root of Sacramental grace Is the new Adam of our race, The MAN DIVINE who bled; Hence cometh our celestial birth Beyond the parentage of earth From our generic Head,― The Lord from Heaven, whose vital Spirit gives All force by which the mystic Body lives. |